Sherlock

I really enjoyed the modern take tv pilot show SHERLOCK shown on BBC1 last night. No longer surrounded by Victorian myth and slum, this is a updated twist on a tried and tested formula but having said this the pacy plot did remind me of those 80 minute classics starring the hawk nosed Basil Rathbone.

The modern version has Holmes ( a Dr Who- ish Benedict Cumberbatch) as a freelance police detective whose blunt but sharp deductions have alienated him from the authorities who refer to him as "a freak". Holmes wryly even refers to himself as a sociopath and there are even oblique self references to an asexual homosexuality lurking beneath the genius but thankfully this psychobabble is kept to a minimum as the galloping storyline takes over.

For me, it is Martin Freeman's calm and collected Dr Watson that makes for the most interesting twist in the new aged characters. A veteran medic and soldier from Afghanistan, his boyish demeanor belies a steely hero who is a dead shot and who has a deep need for a lost adrenalin rush obtained from conflict.He makes for a quiet and warmer foil for Holme's rather lonely Sherlock.

The chemistry and humour between the two leads works very well but after an hour I did feel as though I was watching a sort of hybrid Dr Who,what with the cracking one liners,constant action and flashy screen technology.....I was not surprised to learn that the series was co founded by Dr Who producer Steven Moffit.

I look forward to see where this series actually goes